Use of Social Media by Unions | Canada & USA

Unions have featured quite prominently in news media lately, mostly through the Occupy Wall Street movement (if it can be called that.) With some pundits and media outlets claiming the power and influence of the union has waned in recent years. We can’t comment on whether this is true or not, but a lot of the research we do often features unions. So we decided here to provide some of our aggregate data on which unions are most active in the United States and Canada.

Social Media Use by Unions in the United States
Unions in the US have, for the most part, adopted social media into their communications. Certainly, America leads the way with union’s usage of social media. This is not surprising. There are many more unions and affiliate organizations in the US than Canada and in this instance we looked only at the most active in social media channels. In the U.S. unions use social media for a) broad communications and b) to actually organize rallies and events. We compared usage between 2010 and 2011 to see if there was growing adoption of social media. There is, with some more than others. The AFL-CIO are the most active in the U.S., perhaps not surprisingly so given their broader reach. Behind them is the IBEW for electrical workers.

Social Media Use by Unions in Canada
Unions in Canada have been slower to adopt and use social media. More so than we originally thought. Also, Canadian unions tend to use social media for communications and far less to organize events like their US counterparts. Canadian unions are more “broadcast” as well; meaning they are less likely to engage in dialogue with members and the public. In Canada, the IBEW is the most active and engaged in social media, perhaps as they have chosen to follow in the footsteps of their American counterparts.

Quick Summary
American unions are far more “discussion oriented” than Canadian unions. Unions in the US accept and engage with supporters and non-supporters and are more open in their dialogue. Canadian unions are less engaging with their audiences for the most part. Unions saw their most increased use of engagement in 2011. Prior to 2010, we saw very little usage. Mostly it was the IBEW and their use of YouTube for videos and rallying support.

We forecast increased use of social media by unions in the coming years and across more channels. Today, they are mostly using Twitter, YouTube, Blip.tv, Facebook and blogs as their platforms of choice. Production values of content have improved dramatically and they are integrating social media with traditional channels.

Methodology
To assess use, we first collected data from across all unions in the US and Canada. From here we parsed down the data and analysed which unions a) used the most channels, b) what was their influence and authority (our own algorithms and 3rd party tools such as Klout for verification), c) frequency of communications and d) participation with audience. These primary points were compared between 2010 and 2011. There was statistical variation allowance for populations and unions size to enable more accurate comparions. Based on the above criteria, we assigned a “rank” from 1 to 15 with a 15 being very engaged and 1 being hardly engaged at all (perhaps just 1 or social media channels with little active use.) The data provided herein is the aggregate of that collected for client research projects and does not provide confidential information given to clients.

Are Digital Diaspora Communities Politically Engaged Online?

This blog entry is an update on our ongoing research into digital diaspora communities and how they are using social medias and technologies to engage with their country/culture of origin and within their new host/home country. In this quick snapshot we endeavor to partly answer the question of digital diaspora’s levels of political engagement in the host country and country/culture of origin.

The answer would seem to be “depends”. It would seem to depend on a number of factors which include; size of diaspora community in a given nation, number of generations, political atmosphere in the country of origin and the political climate and structure within the host nation.

Generational Engagement
In host countries where a diaspora community is fairly well established with at least three generations existing, we find that the second and third generation will tend to be more vocal in political issues relating to their country of origin from first generation arrivals. This tends to change when a diaspora community has recently (within a 10 year period) seen rapid growth due to conflict or humanitarian crises in the host nation. The recently displaced will tend to become more vocal within their host nation.

The Citizenship & Power of Influence Equation
Where a diaspora community is established for two to three generations and the majority of the community has either dual citizenship or adopted the citizenship of their host nation, diaspora communities would appear to feel more stable in protests and political engagement. For example, the Tamil community in Toronto, Canada, is well-established and with a large number being Canadian citizens, they hold significant voting power in two federal political ridings. They were active in urging Canadian government support and policy changes regarding Sri Lanka during the civil conflict period.

Applicability to Host Nation Political Influence
It is rather hard to participate in a protest when you are 3,000 miles away. Diaspora influence politically is most often through influencing host nation foreign policy. For their country of origin it is usually a support role through remittances, but also by providing materiel where possible and “hosting” revolutionary or anti-government content. We know that during the failed “Green Revolution” of 2009 in Iran that less than 10% of the “tweets” coming from Twitter actually originated in Iran. Of the 92% or so outside Iran our research indicates less than 40% were by Iranian digital diaspora. Perhaps the revolution wasn’t tweeted after all?

More Questions Than  Answers
Digital diaspora are politically active but as the graph indicates below, they are focused on other topics as well. This graph indicates time periods where there was little political unrest or major political events taking place in Iran, Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan and Haiti. We do note a significant spike in digital diaspora activity just before and  during a crisis period. Which begs the question “do digital diaspora contribute to creating or driving activity back in their country of origin?” We are working on that, but have no definitive answer at this point. We took a sample size of 1,500 individually identified diaspora in Canada, USA and England analyzing text in English and native languages with our AI Engine and human analysts.

Methodology
Complete details can be found here on our page providing details about our digital diaspora project. For more information or questions you may have, please see our contact page or email giles-at-mediabadger.com.

This information and content is Copyright 2011, MediaBadger Public Affairs Ltd. (Canada) and MediaBadger Ltd. (UK). Content may be linked to or otherwise shared with attribution.

The Hidden Value of Social Media in Health Care

Two years ago we completed what was for us a landmark research project and for our client too. The results have been published and showcased around the world. It showed how researching and analyzing social media activity can benefit health care providers. Significantly. Our project was teen mental health; are teens discussing mental health issues in social medias and if so, what are they saying? We also looked at what parents were talking about and health care providers. It was an eye opening study.

The Disconnect
Perhaps one of the most critical findings of this project was the disconnect between parents, teens and health care providers. This was largely due to the use of “language” in the sense of “slang” and terminologies. As an example, a common thread at the time for teen girls was saying they were “feeling Bella today” – a reference to Bella from the Twilight series of books and movies. It meant they were depressed like the “emo” teen. We also found that girls would actually work at feeling depressed. Neither parents nor doctors were aware of trends like this. This research helped them make those connections.

The Religion Factor
Another key finding was how (mostly in the U.S. and Canada), religious organizations (mostly far-right evangelical and “cults” like Scientology) were engaging with teens in social media channels (social networks and forums) and encouraging them to seek religious help and avoid professional medical help. In mental health issues, spirituality can play an important and necessary role, but is part of a comprehensive treatment program, not to the exclusion of professional help.

Girls and Boys
Perhaps not surprisingly, girls were more expressive than boys of their emotions. For males, we mostly found expressions of depression or other issues to be “aggressive” in nature and expressed through connections with music (i.e. bands) and girls through character identification and transference (i.e. Bella Swan.)

Character Transference
Stemming from the understanding of the differences in expression between males and females, we found a trend for “Emotive Character Transference”. By this, we mean that teens tend to “identify” their emotions through fictional characters such as Bella Swan for girls and Ryan from the OC for boys. From watching movies, television shows or listening to certain genres of music, teens attach themselves by finding a “relevance” to their feelings when they may not have a more comprehensive way of expressing their emotions. We define this as Emotive Character Transference.

Conclusion
We have conducted similar research for cancer patients and families, teen alcohol abuse, drug addictions and more. In all cases we find disconnects between health care providers and the subject matter. Yet the insights found are logical and proven; it’s hard to ignore written and video statements from the victims and patients. Social media research and analysis in health care issues can be invaluable to understanding emerging trends, patient views and opinions and gaining insights never before possible.

Methodology & Acknowledgement
Our Teen Mental Health & Social Media research was conducted for The Sun Life Financial Chair in Adolescent Mental Health at the IWK Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Other projects have been for Capital Health in Nova Scotia and US clients. MediaBadger uses a suite of proprietary software tools that include a specialized search engine and Artificial Intelligence engine to collect and analyse text data. This is validated by professional researchers that range from sociologists, anthropologists, marketers, peacekeeping specialists, software engineers and more.

Senior Citizens and Social Media

It’s easy to assume social medias are the domain of the young and frenetic. To assume the “silver surfer” or the silver haired 55+ dem0graphic is rather technologically disconnected. That assumption would be wrong. Marketers would do well to take a second look at this market and it is growing. In Atlantic Canada and northeastern USA, the average age of a Facebook user is 53. In England we see a similar trend, though it is somewhat lower at 46.

How do figure that the Silver Surfer is more active than we might have assumed? As the Internet grew in popularity, it was first most popularly adopted by people in their 40′s, back in the mid-1990′s. Computers were triple or more the cost of what they are today and those that could afford them for the household, and the cost of Internet connectivity (dial-up no less!) were in the higher middle income brackets, professional and well educated. Now, 15 years on, they are into their 50′s and 60′s and they are active.

Reason for Engagement
The pie chart below indicates the reason Silver Surfers engage in social media. Friends and family come first; no surprise there. This is followed by hobbies (golf, knitting, sailing etc.) but shopping and banking comes in last. Silver Surfers are still untrusting of online financial transactions. We also found that this demographic is among the most vocal in local newsmedia websites for commentary.

Channels Used
Here we have a graph of the channels used by various age groups. As we can see, Silver Surfers prefer to Forums and photo sharing. They may watch video but are unlikely to create and share videos through channels like YouTube or Vimeo. For social networks in Western nations they prefer Facebook for its ease of use (all things considered) and because it is more likely that’s where family and friends are. This research was conducted prior to Google+ launch.

Conclusions
Silver Surfers or Senior Citizens (classed by us as 55+ in this instance) are active in social media. They love to comment on news sites and as expected have strong opinions. For the most part, they prefer simple tools that fit in largely with services they are already familiar with. They quickly develop habits of use with preferred tools and are unlikely to change their preferences once established. New tools that take some exploration or anywhere near complex will not be easily adopted. They are “late adopters” of any technology and service online.

This is an active social media demographic. Marketers have an opportunity to engage in these channels and push products and services. We do note they are not likely to plonk down a credit card number into an online purchasing system unless they truly establish a trust connection.

Methodology
We collected and aggregated data from 2,500 profiles in Atlantic Canada and New England states and 1,200 profiles from England for a sample size. All data collected was publicly available. We did not access individual and/or private information. Over 1.5 million text files were analyzed using our Artificial Intelligence Engine and crawler, mediasphere360. Human verification of data was applied. The data was collected from June 2010 to December 21st, 2010.

How Online Behaviour Impacts Real World Behaviour

It’s probably one of the biggest questions of business and governments; just exactly how does what people do “online” in Cyburbia, translate to actions in the real world? The evidence is overwhelming that it does. The challenge is that it’s changing our real-world life so much and in so many complex ways, that it can be a challenge to wrap ones head around it.

Online communities, Cyburbia, social medias or Web 2.0 – whatever you want to call these new channels of communication, are first and foremost the domain of “ideas”. It is from ideas that we develop plans and strategies that translate into actions. Through our past, current and ongoing research projects and from what many a pundit has written, we’ve broken down online activities into 4 key functions of how we use these new, hyper-connected tools to translate to real-world activities;

1. Ideas: We have ideas all the time. A new way to do something online or in the real-world. An idea about new laws, buildings, saving energy…anything and everything we do has human beings comes from an idea first.

2. Organizing: When an idea takes hold and we (and perhaps others) decide to take actions by translating that idea into reality, we have to organize. That could be meetings, protests, writing, creating a website or opening a restaurant. This all requires a number of steps and processes – this is organizing. There are a number of tools for organizing online; for one person to thousands of people. The key is that these new digital tools allow people to organize as groups quickly, anywhere in the world, at any time across multiple devices.

3. Collaboration: While your organizing the idea into actions, you’ll likely connect with others. Humans must work together as groups to make big things happen – like building a shopping centre. This is collaboration. Just as with organizing (and often they are integrated) these new tools enable a group to shape an idea, expand on it, refine it.

4. Communication: Once you’ve shaped your idea, you then communicate it to many or a few people. Once you’re team or group has formed, collaborated and organized, you then communicate again to drive awareness and action. You will likely create all kinds of communications content to get action (video, images, brochures, documents, blog posts, tweets etc.) Just as online tools enable collaboration, development of ideas (writing and research) and organizing, they facilitate communications that are faster, almost no cost and easier than ever before.

It is these 4 elements that combine to result in the actions that change our world; whether that be political or business. If you’re seeking to understand the translation of online activities into real-world actions, apply these elements to any groups and you’ll have a framework to understand how these interested parties are behaving and what may happen in your area of interest.

Perhaps you have some thoughts on this? Anything to add? Let us know.